|
|
Post by ensenada on Jun 13, 2005 12:21:22 GMT
So why did the doors have so much trouble getting signed and noticed to begin with? was it becaue the record companies generally wanted poppy sounding crap, was the doors music just to dark for the pallets ofmost companies?
I read that theygot noticed by the owner of thewhiskey on their last night of playing the Fog...that was lucky! couldhave been very different otherwise..
|
|
|
|
Post by jym on Jun 13, 2005 12:54:27 GMT
From what I've read Jac Holzman saw The Doors a couple nights at the suggestion of Arthur Lee. You know The Doors possibly could never have been signed, Columbia didn't know what to do with them, & the way things go if you're different or unknown no one is willing to take a chance on you unless you find someone who hasn't got anything to lose like Jac Holzman & Elektra did, Jac had a few rock acts but thats it, he didn't have anything to lose by signing The Doors.
|
|
|
|
Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Jun 13, 2005 13:20:56 GMT
Everybody wanted Herman's Hermits really and The Doors were NOT remotely like THAT. Ray's brothers Jim and Rick were surfer dudes and not into what was going on with Jim, Ray and John so I imagine they did not expect much from the demo and were surprised when Columbia picked up on them after they ditched the band. That was Billy James who was more into the wierd side of LA. The demo was different to the norm even without Krieger. The 4 man Doors touted it all over LA but nobody 'bought it'.....Dunhill Records (who had popular acts like Mamas & The papas and Barry McGuire on thier list) threw them out after hearing 'Go Insane'...apparently going insane was not what surfers wanted to hear. They were blessed with good luck thats for sure.....Jesse james liked them at The London Fog and just when he needed a change of act and let them go Gloria Stavers turned up and got them in the Whisky. They supported Love and got Arthur Lee interested and he brought Jac Holzman who brought Paul Rothchild..... They were fortunate that they had good friends like those who supported them in those early days. Robby's mum and dad Stu and Marilyn were also a big factor at that time as they let the band rehearse in thier rec room and Stu introduced them to Max Fink who looked after the legal side for them. Its dead easy for a talented band to dissapear into obscurity.....I lived with one for a year and they had all the shit luck going.....The Doors were blessed and got all the breaks......add to that they had Jim and its easy to see what scared everyone in the early days and also what made The Doors different from the pack....... We were lucky as they made it but it makes you wonder if there was maybe even some buncha LA guys even better than our lot who didn't?   |
|
|
|
Post by eressie on Jun 13, 2005 13:40:34 GMT
Why did Columbia sign them when they did not have any plans for them?
|
|
|
|
Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Jun 13, 2005 13:47:11 GMT
Why did Columbia sign them when they did not have any plans for them? Record labels signed a lot of bands at that time to ensure other record labels did not get them just in case...... If a demo sounded promising they would sign them up. The Doors were allocated a Producer who introduced himself once to them with 'Hi I'm your Producer' and they NEVER saw him again. Columbia was a huge corporation and after a while drop lists were compiled and bands on them released from thier contract. John Densmore saw The Doors were on a drop list whilst visiting Billy James told the rest of the band and they decided to ask to be released at once even though it cost them a 1000 bucks they could have had if they hung on another month......very brave for a broke and destitute band with zero prospects. Columbia must have been well pissed off when LMF hit No# 1................... You win some you lose some.. |
|
|
|
Post by ensenada on Jun 13, 2005 13:48:24 GMT
a band better than our lot!? nah i doubt it!  true though, you never know. itsa shame for the bands that dont get the breaks. i was reading in ROTS that many bands got signed by big companies, only to be dropped soon after. perhaps it was down to the scouts going out and liking a band themselves only for it to be dumped by a bigger cheese who didnt like em. perhaps that what happened to the dors. you cant blame em really  what white collar conservative big cheese is gonna assoicate wth the doors back then? |
|
|
|
Post by jym on Jun 13, 2005 14:04:24 GMT
The Doors were lucky indeed, I once figured it out (as best I could) from Morrison on the rooftop to hit song 18 months!
|
|
|
|
Post by ensenada on Jun 13, 2005 14:06:41 GMT
thats pretty quick. but i bet at the time it didnt seem quick for them |
|
|
|
Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Jun 13, 2005 14:11:12 GMT
Look at it from Robby's point of view.....obscure guitar player writes Light My Fire in December 1965. It's number one in July 1967.....a year later everyone thinks Jose Feliciano wrote it...... |
|
|
|
Post by ensenada on Jun 13, 2005 20:26:44 GMT
Look at it from Robby's point of view.....obscure guitar player writes Light My Fire in December 1965. It's number one in July 1967.....a year later everyone thinks Jose Feliciano wrote it...... yeh WTF is that all about. didnt his version sound like fuckin gareth gates? or the other homosexual chap? |
|
|
|
Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Jun 13, 2005 21:52:06 GMT
Look at it from Robby's point of view.....obscure guitar player writes Light My Fire in December 1965. It's number one in July 1967.....a year later everyone thinks Jose Feliciano wrote it...... yeh WTF is that all about. didnt his version sound like fuckin gareth gates? or the other homosexual chap? Yep 'the other homosexual chap' Will Young...who did a version similar to the Jose version. That version is rather common as the song has been covered hundreds of times all over the world in God knows how many languages. When I first heard LMF it was probably 1967 but I did not pay that much attention.....I heard the Feliciano version in 1968 and later The Doors version which I thought was a cover of Jose's version as did many other rock fans I know.....I was only about 14 at the time so knew no better......I was 16/17 before I had heard all The Doors music and thats when I began to really get into it in a big way........they were my fave band from 1970 onwards but it was 1971/72 when I really got my mind blown by them..... I think Robby was a bit pissed off that people thought Feliciano wrote it...he did not mind people thinking Jim wrote it but Jose was a bit much..... |
|
|
|
Post by glasstecwindows on Aug 24, 2018 10:11:27 GMT
The Doors were allocated a Producer who introduced himself once to them with 'Hi I'm your Producer' and they NEVER saw him again.
|
|
|
|
Post by glasstecwindows on Sept 3, 2018 10:51:41 GMT
You know The Doors possibly could never have been signed, Columbia didn't know what to do with them.
|
|
